Three new judges will take the oath of office to take charge in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant breaking the usual tradition of swearing in judges in the morning hours.
The swearing-in follows the notification issued by the Centre appointing the three new judges of the Supreme Court under the President’s order. This Collegium also comprises four seniormost judges of the top court – justices Vikram Nath, BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh and PS Narasimha. the convenience of the new judges is cited as the reason While no reason is given for the change in the swearing-in ceremony time. The Centre has already notified the appointment of justice P Sam Koshy as Acting CJ of the Telangana high court.
The swearing-in of the new judges will take place at 3:30pm on Tuesday, according to an official communication by the Supreme Court. Usually, judges of the Supreme Court are administered the oath of office at 10.30 am, the time when the courts assemble on working days for conducting hearings. This change marks the first time in the history of the Supreme Court since its establishment in 1950. The three judges – justice Sunita Agarwal (chief justice of Gujarat high court), justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya (chief justice of Delhi high court) and justice Aparesh Kumar Singh (chief justice of Telangana high court) – were recommended for elevation to the top court by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by CJI Surya Kant on September 28. The Delhi high court will be organising the Full Court Farewell Reference in honour of justice Upadhyaya on Tuesday at 12 noon.
A post published on ‘X’ by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India is pleased to appoint the following Chief Justices of high courts as judges of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Agarwal was given a Full Court Farewell Reference on Monday, soon after the Centre notified her elevation. As regards Justice Singh, the Full Court Farewell Reference by the judges and the Bar Association of the Telangana high court could not be held, as justice Singh left for Delhi on Monday for the swearing-in ceremony.
